HARMAN

HARMAN designs and engineers connected products and solutions for consumers, automakers, and enterprises worldwide, including audio, visual and infotainment systems; enterprise automation solutions; and software services. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® , Mark Levinson ® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. HARMAN also is a technology and integration services leader for the Automotive, Mobile, Telecommunications and Enterprise markets. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. The Company’s software solutions power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated, personalized, adaptive and secure across all platforms, from the work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 25,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $5.9 billion during the last 12 months ended March 31, 2015. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

FANCI Related Technology

As the leading partner for in-vehicle infotainment systems HARMAN brings expertise to the FANCI project in these areas:

Infotainment systems

HARMAN is dedicated to further develop scalable and upgradable infotainment solutions and to constantly improve user experience. Its expertise encompasses multi-modal and multi-display HMIs that present the driver relevant information when needed and where needed. The company brings together cloud connectivity, navigation and entertainment with an intuitive user interface. HARMAN’s state-of-the-art sound technologies like HALOsonic Road Noise Cancellation (RNC) and Individual Sound Zones (ISZ) contribute to the overall driving experience and open up a completely new level of entertainment for all passengers.

Furthermore HARMAN does pioneering work in the field of driver and multi-seat in-vehicle user experience – some of their projects can be found under “HARMAN top HMI innovation projects”.

Advanced driver assistance systems

HARMAN is developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to meet and exceed future customer expectations and safety standards. Examples for vision-based ADAS that rely on data provided by a camera are forward collision warning and lane departure warning. Additionally, connected ADAS – such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication and E-Horizon – plays an increasingly important role to keep the driver and other road users safe.

High cognitive load management systems

By further developing driver, vehicle, and environmental sensing, HARMAN will be able to lower the driver’s cognitive load by presenting only the necessary and relevant information. This will lead to a more comfortable, relaxed, enjoyable, and finally safer trip.

HARMAN’s top HMI innovation projects are:

Eye gaze and vergence detection

The system is able to capture the driver’s eye gaze and eye vergence to trigger information on a transparent display or HUD. By using eye contact, eye gestures, and simply focusing on the area of interest, the driver is able to interact intuitively with the car without using his hands or voice.

Pseudo-holographic instrument cluster

The space between the driver and the steering wheel is used to display contextual information, so important alerts can be moved to the focus of the driver to get his attention.

Gesture interactive sound

The driver is able to grab and move sound sources with his hands, via gesture control. Music, phone calls, and alerts can be handled intuitively. This is particularly useful in combination with HARMAN’s ISZ, where sound sources can be passed on to fellow passengers.

See-through dash system

To have a better visual awareness of the vehicle’s environment, in particular close and low, HARMAN enables the driver to see through the dashboard using robotically actuated stereo cameras and view dependent rendering.

Mid-air tactile feedback

Realized via an array of ultrasonic speakers, gesture interaction and spatial displays profit from becoming more physical and tactile to the user.

Shape shifting controllers

An in-car touch controller that can change shape to communicate with the driver intuitively, and guide the interaction almost subconsciously. This reduces information overload and lowers driver distraction by complementing vision and hearing based HMI channels.

Surface-changing controllers

Also with the goal of counteracting information overload and distraction, HARMAN is researching an in-car touch controller and armrest that can change their surfaces to convey information intuitively to the driver.

Horizon 2020 Innovation Framework Programme

The FANCI project is funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation. Horizon 2020 flagship initiative aimed at securing Europe's global competitiveness. By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges.

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